


Awakening

by wordbending



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening
Genre: Canonical Character Death, F/F, Fluff and Angst, It Gets Worse Before It Gets Better, Trans Female Character, Trans Link (Legend of Zelda), it's link's awakening after all
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-22
Updated: 2020-05-22
Packaged: 2021-03-03 00:00:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,111
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24325438
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wordbending/pseuds/wordbending
Summary: You stare at Zelda.She’s especially made up today, in all her finest clothes, her lipstick a subtle shade of peach that doesn’t overwhelm her fair, pale skin. Her dress, purple and pink, flows down past her legs, so she has to lift it up to move. Her fiery orange hair, held back by her giant, ruby-crested tiara, flows down far past her shoulders, cascading down her back. She smiles at you like the golden rays of the Triforce.She’s effortlessly beautiful. She always is.But, lately, you don’t know how to describe the feeling you get when you see her. Whenever you do, you blush - your heart skips a beat, your legs wobble like a ChuChu, and you have to catch your breath. Impa teases you for it, calling it a crush, calling it love, while she laughs at you with a laugh as enormous as herself.It’snota crush though. It’snotlove. Well, maybe it is, a little, but...What it really is, you think, is jealousy.-----Link awakens.
Relationships: Link/Marin (Legend of Zelda)
Comments: 12
Kudos: 82





	Awakening

You stare at Zelda.

She’s especially made up today, in all her finest clothes, her lipstick a subtle shade of peach that doesn’t overwhelm her fair, pale skin. Her dress, purple and pink, flows down past her legs, so she has to lift it up to move. Her fiery orange hair, held back by her giant, ruby-crested tiara, flows down far past her shoulders, cascading down her back. She smiles at you like the golden rays of the Triforce.

She’s effortlessly beautiful. She always is.

But, lately, you don’t know how to describe the feeling you get when you see her. Whenever you do, you blush - your heart skips a beat, your legs wobble like a ChuChu, and you have to catch your breath. Impa teases you for it, calling it a crush, calling it love, while she laughs at you with a laugh as enormous as herself.

It’s _not_ a crush though. It’s _not_ love. Well, maybe it is, a little, but...

What it really is, you think, is jealousy.

* * *

You stare at Zelda.

You blink your eyes blearily, surprised to find yourself under warm blankets, with a pillow beneath your head. The last thing you remember, you were fighting a horrible storm and there was a flash of lightning... you feel like you shouldn’t even be alive.

But now, in front of you, is a girl so beautiful she can only be Zelda. She has all her features - the same young, wide, innocent eyes, the same round childish face, the same radiant smile and fiery orange hair that can only be Zelda’s, if only because nobody else makes you feel the way she does.

“Z-Zelda?” you murmur.

“What?” says Zelda’s voice, from Zelda’s mouth. “Zelda?”

She giggles.

“No, my name’s Marin! You must still be feeling a little woozy... you’re on Koholint Island!”

You look at the girl again. At Marin. And you immediately see your mistake - the differences. In some ways, they could be long-lost twins, but... Marin wears only a simple blue dress, tied with a red bow, and sandals. Her voice was slightly accented, with neither the Hylian diction or the formalness and regality of Zelda’s. And her skin is a beautiful, dark shade of brown - a heavy tan or her natural color, you’re not sure - that is nothing like Zelda’s.

Yet, in spite of your mistake, the feeling in your chest when you see her doesn’t go away at all.

* * *

“What a beautiful day! It makes me want to sing...”

She takes a breath and, then, begins to sing.

_Sleepers wake_

_Dreams will fade_

_Although we cling fast_

_Was it real?_

_What we saw?_

_I believe_

You’re astonished. You’ve never heard Zelda sing, but you can’t imagine even her voice is as beautiful as this - you don’t believe you’ve ever heard a sound more beautiful in your entire life. You find yourself so moved by it that you sit down in front of her, resting on your knees, and just quietly listen.

_Lost in dreams_

_We sleep on_

_Tossing and turning_

_Stay with me_

_By my side_

_Never leave_

You don’t want to, you find yourself thinking. The lyrics are so sad and forlorn, and she pours so much emotion into them... you feel like this is a dream, but that if it is, you never want it to end.

_If someday this sweet reverie ends_

_We too_

_Our memories_

_For real_

_Fade us by_

Again, that feeling you were overcome by with Zelda threatens to overwhelm you. You can’t place what it is - it’s some sense, somewhere in you, that you wished you were in her place somehow. That it was you who was the one singing, that it was you without a care or worry in the world, that it was your bright orange hair swaying back and forth with every note.

_Dream with me_

_By the sea_

_We watch the waves crash_

_Hold my hand_

_Think of me_

_And I'll fly_

And she stops singing, just as you’re struck by the very foolish thought that you want more than anything to hold her hand, to dream with her.

You realize she’s looking at you. There’s a slight tint to her dark brown cheeks, and she’s playing with the fabric of her dress instead of looking straight at you.

Abruptly, you stand to your feet and start to clap, as enthusiastically as you can. Her blush only deepens, but despite her bashfulness, she smiles a pleased, happy smile.

“I know the lyrics are a little sad,” she admits. “But it’s my favorite song. Did you like it, Link?”

“It was beautiful,” you reply.

 _Like you,_ you don’t say.

* * *

When you arrive at Mabe Village and don’t find Marin in her usual place by the rooster statue, you’re struck with alarm. You hope she hasn’t been kidnapped. It wouldn’t be the first time a beautiful girl has been kidnapped and you’ve had to rescue her. And you feel like it was only a few hours ago that a _dog_ was kidnapped and you had to rescue _it._ This happens to you a lot.

Nobody seems to know where Marin is either when you ask around, which only worries you more. She’s not in her house, and she’s not anywhere in town, and everywhere else you know is swamped with dangerous monsters. Oddly, nobody ever seems to get hurt by any of the monsters here, besides you, but... you still can’t help but fear the worst.

In the end, there’s only one place you haven’t looked, and that’s the beach. You walk to it, cutting down monsters with your sword on the way, until you reach a little alcove surrounded by coconut trees, with an overturned log facing the ocean. A dozen seagulls fly lazily over the sea.

And she’s there. She’s staring out at the ocean, so you can’t see her face, but the sun is behind her and lights her in its golden glow. When she turns her head around towards you, she doesn’t seem surprised to find you there, but she smiles even brighter than the sun.

“Will you stay and talk to me for a while?”

How can you say no, you think? You nod and take a seat on the log, and she sits quietly next to you and continues staring out at the ocean. You stare not at the water, but at her - your eyes memorize her face like it’s going to fade away if you don’t try to remember it. Then you stop, feeling embarrassed.

“Tarin says there is nothing beyond the sea...” she says, her smile having faded from her face. She looks forlorn now, sad and distant. “But I believe there must be something out there. When I discovered you, my heart skipped a beat...! I thought, this person has come to give us a message...”

You look away from her and down towards the sand at your feet. You don’t have a message for her. You’re not even sure what you’re doing here. That owl has been telling you to wake the Wind Fish, that it’s apparently the only way to leave this island, but you don’t really know why you’re doing that. Is it because of Hyrule? Is it because there’s people out there, to save, to rescue? Is it because of Princess Zelda, or because this is the role you’ve always had, as long as you’ve known? To be a hero, to save the world, to banish evil?

You find yourself, once again, wishing that things had been different. That you were born in a different place, in a different body, as a different person... that you could be like this girl, dreaming only of a world far away.

You can’t believe you ever confused her with Zelda. When you look at her, sometimes, you see Zelda, like a mirage in the desert - they share not just their faces, but their kindness, their generosity, their love for everyone they meet.

But they’re so different, despite everything - Marin is so carefree and innocent, in a way Zelda would have never been allowed to be. She never had to be a princess. She never had to fear the return of evil, the threat to her kingdom and her people. She’s like a dream, although you’re not sure if that dream would be Zelda’s, or yours.

“Hey!” she says, startling you out of your thoughts. “Are you listening? Link, are you listening to me?”

Your cheeks grow warm. You weren’t, really, which you feel terrible about, but you don’t want to admit that to her, because her thinking of you as foolish would hurt more than it should. So you quickly nod, and she seems grateful.

“I want to know everything about you...” she says softly, and then her cheeks turn that shade again, and she laughs a bright, bell-like laugh. “Err... uhh... ha ha ha ha!”

But you find yourself blushing just as furiously, and the words emerge from your mouth before you can stop them.

“You do?”

She raises her arms in front of her chest and scoots closer to you on the log, then without warning, takes your hands and raises them up in front of her.

“Yes! Please! Tell me everything!”

You stare into her large brown eyes for just a moment, and then you speak again. The words simply pour out, like a wave hitting the beach, before you even recognize what you’re saying.

“I want to be a girl.”

She blinks, in obvious surprise, and part of you wonders if she’s going to make fun of you and part of you realizes what you’ve just said and you can’t tell which part is more horrifying.

But she just smiles, a soft, genuine smile, and squeezes your hands.

“A girl...” she says, quietly. “Well, if you were a girl... what would your name be?”

“Link...” You pause. You hadn’t thought about this for a long time, but... there’s only one thing that seems right. It’s a name you thought of long ago, when you were very young, and the idea of being a girl hadn’t seemed like a childish fantasy that you had to put aside. “...Le. Linkle.”

Marin lowers her head and giggles, and your heart sinks as you feel yourself blush and frown. Of course she wouldn’t understand. You can’t expect anyone to understand, not this.

“Oh!” Marin says, seeing your expression and immediately looking horrified that she said the wrong thing. She smiles again. “No, no, I like it! It’s a very pretty name... for a very pretty girl.”

You stare up at her, your cheeks turning warmer than ever, a smile crossing your face. She just called you pretty! A pretty _girl!_ It makes you so happy that you let go of her hands and bury your blushing face in them.

Marin seems to realize what she just said as well, because she does the exact same thing, shaking her head back and forth as if she can shake off the shyness.

For a moment, the two of you sit like that, nothing but the sound of seagulls and the waves for company. It’s only once your pounding heart calms down again that Marin continues to speak.

“Ha ha...” she laughs. “I must say... when I wanted to know everything about you, this... isn't what I imagined!”

You let out a laugh of your own, soft and quiet, and she turns back towards you with a warm smile on her face.

“But... I’m happy you told me,” she says, beaming. “Because, if you _were_ a girl... you’d be just my type! Hee hee!”

And she leans over and kisses you on the cheek. For maybe the hundredth time that day alone, you feel a blush rise up your cheeks, and your whole body feels like jelly. You’re so stunned that you lose your balance on the log and fall face-first into the sand.

You hear her giggling again. You don’t think you’ve ever heard a more wonderful sound.

“Oh, Linkle,” she says, after a moment. “Was there something you wanted from me...?”

You raise yourself from the sand, brush sand off your tunic, and sit back down on the log. Although it seems almost strange to talk about it now, you explain about the walrus blocking your way to Yarna Desert, and how you need her to sing to it and wake it up. You promise to escort her there, to keep her safe.

“Then it’s a date, Linkle~” Marin says, sing-song.

You grin, and then, with a laugh, you grab her by the waist and lift her into the air. She laughs as the two of you spin around in circles.

You got Marin! Is this your big chance...?

* * *

Marin is... strange. She’s nothing like Zelda, not even in the most remote sense, and you learn that more and more as you travel with her.

When you start digging into the ground, hoping to find some rupees or maybe even a secret seashell, she screams “Great! Dig! Dig it! Dig to the center of the earth!” so abruptly and so loudly that you bonk the shovel into your face.

You slash a cucco with your sword - you’re not really sure _why_ \- and she starts yelling at you to “do it more,” then pretends she didn’t say anything.

You look at her dresser, because you want to ask if, maybe, you can borrow a dress, but she just teases you for it and you blush furiously.

You break a pot and she chastises you for it, calling you a “bad girl,” and you’re so happy that you got called “girl” that you don’t even care.

You play Ballad of the Wind Fish on your Ocarina, and she mutters that it’s “not very good” under her breath before playing it off like she hadn’t said anything.

You take her to the Trendy Game so she can play a round, because this _is_ a date and it seems like the only thing there is to do around here. She somehow manages to grab the _clerk_ in the claw, leaving him squirming and shaking to get loose, and she immediately gets banned from the establishment.

She doesn’t even seem bothered by it, as if she did it on purpose, and neither are you - the moment you both leave the Trendy Game, you both collapse laughing against the wall, tears in your eyes.

Yes, Marin is nothing at all like Zelda. But you think that’s why you love her.

* * *

You take her to a spot on the beach, not too far away from where you started this little “date.”

“This is my first walk with you, Linkle,” she says, and she’s blushing again.

For some reason, you’re struck by the word ‘first’ - you get an odd feeling, one you can’t explain, that this will be the last too. It makes you so uncomfortable that you just stare out at the ocean.

She doesn’t seem to notice anything is wrong. She turns to you with a huge smile and says, so casually that it makes your heart skip a beat, “This cliff will be our secret place.”

You wish you knew how to respond. You wish you could say something cool and heroic, but you don’t know what words to use, so you don’t. You just continue staring out at the ocean, blushing. She’s blushing too, you notice.

“Aren’t you going to say anything?” she says after a moment, clearly frustrated with you, and it’s so obvious she loves you just as much as you love her and it makes your heart feel like it’s going to explode like a bomb and you don’t know what to do with that feeling.

“When I wake the Wind Fish,” you say, so abruptly it surprises you just as much. You’re staring straight at her, and she blushes even deeper. “We’ll come here, to our secret place, every day. And we’ll stare out at the ocean and we’ll count the seagulls.”

You don’t say that you don’t know what will happen when you wake the Wind Fish. It’s just what you dream of - a future with her.

Now it’s her turn to not know what to say. After a moment, she laughs, that bell-like laugh, and she leans her head on your shoulder and makes you blush from the tips of your boots to the top of your head.

“Oh, Linkle,” she teases. “Who knew you were such a romantic?”

* * *

Eventually, your date has to end, even though you don’t want it to, and so, you take her to the walrus. She sings in front of it and it’s so excited that it flops into the water, which makes Marin laugh harder than ever.

“I’m going to the Animal Village,” she tells you as she turns to go. Again, you don’t know what to say, but she does all the speaking for you - she grabs both your hands and plants a kiss on your cheek. “Please drop by, OK?”

You promise you will.

* * *

**“To the finder … The Isle of Koholint is but an illusion. Human, Monster, Sea, Sky … A scene on the lid of a sleeper’s eye … Awake the Dreamer and Koholint will vanish much like a bubble on a needle … Castaway … You should know the truth!”**

You don’t believe it. You don’t _want_ to believe it. It’s obviously a trick, from the Nightmares, to convince you to give up on your quest.

That’s what you think, until you talk to the Owl, and he tells you that nobody really knows if the island is a dream. And you realize that the Owl knows more than he’s telling you. That the Owl is lying to you, because he doesn’t want you to give up on your quest either. You don’t know how you know that with such confidence, but you _know._

And you know what it will mean.

“Human, Monster, Sea, Sky... A scene on the lid of a sleeper’s eye...”

When you awaken the Wind Fish, Marin will disappear along with the rest of the island. She will die without dying, just as she now lives without living.

You can’t do it. You can’t kill the people of this island, not even if it means returning home, not even if it means returning to Zelda, not even if it means Ganon wreaking havoc on the outside world. What kind of hero would you be if you woke the Wind Fish, if that meant murdering these innocent people? If it meant murdering _Marin?_

You go back to the beach, the words on the mural ringing through your head, and stab your sword into the sand. You won’t need it anymore. You’ll live the rest of your life with Marin. You’ll marry her and have children and never tell her that the island is all a dream, and you’ll be happy.

You go to you and Marin’s secret place, sit down, and stare forlornly out at the ocean, wondering why that thought doesn’t make you happy at all.

It’s Marin, not the Owl, who finds you there.

You stand up and stare at her, and she _looks_ so real, and you run over to her and tackle her into a hug, and she _feels_ so real, and then you’re kissing her, and how could she possibly be a dream, how could she possibly not be real, when she’s realer than anyone you’ve ever met?

She’s blushing furiously when you break off the kiss, and at some point, you’ve started to cry, and she must not understand at all what’s happening but she still gently takes your hand and asks you what’s wrong.

“It’s a lie,” you finally manage to say. Her eyebrows raise.

“ _What’s_ a lie?” she says.

“Everything,” you say, as if that explains it. “ _Everything.”_

“Linkle, did you hit your head or something?” she says, feeling your forehead. “You’re not making any sense.”

“Koholint isn’t real,” you say, choking back a sob. You wipe at your eyes fruitlessly. “And that means... that means _you_ aren’t real either. None of this is real. It’s all a dream.”

She’s silent for a moment, and you don’t know what you expect her to say. You almost think she’ll run away in fear, but she doesn’t.

“I know,” she says.

“Y-you do?”

“I’ve always known,” she says softly. “I don’t have any memories of being a little girl. I’ve never become any older, and nobody else I know has either. Tarin tells me there’s nothing beyond the sea, and somehow, I know he’s right. I know I’m not real. That none of Koholint is.”

“But you _are_ real!” you insist, because that seems so ridiculous, so _stupid,_ when she’s right in front of you and you can feel her hands in yours. “You’re just as real as anyone else.”

She smiles brightly, and yet somehow, her smile is so utterly sad that it breaks your heart in two.

“Does it matter?” she says, and you don’t know how she’s not crying as hard as you are. “Whether I’m real or not... does it really make a difference?”

You don’t understand what she means.

“Linkle... if you wake the Wind Fish... I’ll disappear, right?” she says, still smiling. “I think... that’d be OK.”

You understand even less. How? How can she possibly be so... accepting? It’s cruel, and it’s unfair, and it’s not _right._

“Because the Wind Fish will grant my wish. Because he’ll make me into a seagull, and I’ll get to fly forever on the waves, with you.”

She sounds so sure you can almost believe it yourself.

“And... even if I don’t...” she says, in an even quieter voice. She caresses your cheek, and she still doesn’t sound sad, and you still don’t understand how she can be so calm. “I’ll live forever...” Her hand crosses over your tunic, over your heart, and you feel it pounding against her fingers. “In here.”

As always, you don’t know what to say.

“Please don’t be sad, Linkle,” she says. “This is what you came here to do. If you’re sad about it, I’ll never, ever forgive you.”

She says it lightly, teasingly, and you smile in spite of yourself.

“Promise me,” she says. “Promise me you’ll wake the Wind Fish. OK, Linkle?”

You don’t want to. You don’t want to make a promise like that.

But you do. You make that promise, and she kisses your cheek and thanks you, and you go back to the beach and take your sword and go to finish a quest you never wanted to start.

* * *

_Sleepers wake_

_Dreams will fade_

_Although we cling fast_

_Was it real?_

_What we saw?_

_I believe_

The Wind Fish’s egg fades.

_Lost in dreams_

_We sleep on_

_Tossing and turning_

_Stay with me_

_By my side_

_Never leave_

The beach fades.

_If someday this sweet reverie ends_

_We too_

_Our memories_

_For real_

_Fade us by_

Mabe Village fades.

_Dream with me_

_By the sea_

_We watch the waves crash_

_Hold my hand_

_Think of me_

_And I'll fly..._

Animal Village fades.

Marin fades.

* * *

You wake up, on a log in the middle of the ocean. The sun is bright above you, and the air is filled with the sound of crashing waves and seagulls flying overhead.

Already, you aren’t sure where you are or where you just were. Already, the dream inside your head is fading away into nothingness, like water through your fingers.

Only two things remain, as clear as the sun above. A voice, in your memories.

_“No, no, I like it! It’s a very pretty name... for a very pretty girl.”_

And...

_“The Wind Fish will grant my wish. He’ll make me into a seagull, and I’ll get to live forever, on the waves, with you.”_

You look up, squinting in the sunlight, at the seagulls flying above. And you wonder if, maybe, just maybe...

As if noticing you, a seagull turns towards you and then flies down, sitting next to you on the log. It preens itself, and tentatively, you reach out and pet the feathers on its head.

The seagull stares at you. You stare back.

“Marin...?”

The seagull chirps and hops over to you, nestling its head against your cheek, and you laugh, not caring at all how ridiculous you must look. The seagull laughs too, not a bell-like laugh, but one loud and barking.

At that moment, something enormous flies overhead, covering everything for miles in its shadow. You look up, as the other seagulls scatter, to see the silhouette of the Wind Fish. The seagull next to you stares at it too.

“Thank you,” you say.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to my friend Ivy for betaing this!


End file.
